Campfire Tolerance
Team Member Name: John Cawley
Publication: The Columbus Dispatch
Date: 7/28/2015
Cartoonist: Nate Beeler U.S.
Title of cartoon: Campfire Tolerance
Cartoon# 1
What action is taking place in the cartoon?
What is the context? The referenced cartoon de-
Any additional discussion or analysis?
The pleasant expressions on the faces of the scouts
as well as their leader vividly frame the issue as
being resolved as they watch “the closet” door burn.
This may be an attempt at priming the public to
quietly accept the Boy Scouts of America decision
to allow each troop to choose the qualifications for
their own leaders.
picts a scouting troop as they sit around a campfire.
The source of the fire appears to be a wooden door
with the words “the closet” clearly painted on the
front. The event that triggered this cartoon was the
decision of The Boy Scouts of America to “remove
the national restriction on openly gay leaders and
employees”(Leopold). The obvious symbol used in
this cartoon is that of “the closet” which is a common symbol for being secretly homosexual and the
ceremonial burning of the closet door is a symbol
of destroying the stigma that formerly surrounded
being a homosexual leader in the Boy Scouts.
Tone of the cartoon:
1) positive or negative framing of the issue
2) Framing is supportive of or opposed to supporters
3) Framing is supportive of or opposed to opponents
What “reality” is constructed/framed about
your issue?
Bibliography:
Leopold, T. (2015, July 28). Boy Scouts change policy on gay leaders. Retrieved March 28, 2016, from http://www.cnn.
com/2015/07/27/us/boy-scouts-gay-leaders-feat/
The cartoonist is portraying the issue in a way that
suggests this issue has found its resolution. He depicts a reality where sexuality and gender preference
has no bad connotation in scouting and the taboo is
done away.
BSA. (2015). Membership Standards Resolution. Retrieved March 28, 2016, from http://www.scouting.org/MembershipStandards/Resolution/Resolution.aspx
Beeler, N. (2015, July 28). Campfire Tolerance [Cartoon]. Retrieved March 30, 2016, from http://www.caglecartoons.com/
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